Russia Overtakes Germany To Become Europe’s Largest Economy

This about Economy, tagged , , , was written by for on July 12, 2013 .38 Comments

See data. For real, this time. While it is perhaps a big strange to start thinking of Russia as a high-income economy, it’s not so surprising when looking at concrete statistics such as vehicle consumption, Internet penetration, etc. – all of which are now at typical South European and advanced East-Central European levels (even if there’s still some […]

On Defending The Soviet Union

This about Economy, tagged , , , , , , , was written by for on July 12, 2012 .196 Comments

Contrary to what some might try to take from my post on the longterm failure of the Soviet economy, I am not an anti-Soviet ideologue. I loathe lies about its achievements and the blanket condemnations directed its way by moralistic poseurs every bit as much or more than I detest reality-challenged attempts to paint it […]

Russian Wages Are Fast Converging To Western Levels

This about Economy, tagged , , , was written by for on June 21, 2012 .22 Comments

Via The Economist, I’ve come across some fascinating research by Orley Ashenfelter and Stepan Jurajda (Comparing Real Wage Rates, 2012) showing how real wages can be meaningfully compared across different regions by taking notes on prices and wages in McDonald’s restaurants. The methodology seems solid. Big Macs are a very standardized product, hence they are already […]

Education as the Elixir of Growth III

This , about HBD, tagged , , , , was written by for on February 25, 2012 .20 Comments

Just in case you thought the correlation between human capital and economic development was an artifice of the post-socialist world, here is a similar graph (R2=0.4273) for all the world’s countries that have participated in the Math and Science portions of the PISA or TIMMS (8th grade) international standardized student assessments. The methodology is the […]

Russia’s Economic “Stagnation” In Global Perspective

This about Economy, tagged , , , , was written by for on July 14, 2011 .38 Comments

Иn the wake of the 2009 recession, declinist rhetoric has come to dominate discussion of Russia’s economic prospects. Jim O’Neill, the founder of the BRIC’s concept, has his work cut out defending Russia’s expulsion from the group in favor of Indonesia, Mexico, or some other random middle-sized country. Journalists in the Western media claim its economy is […]

Book Review: Ha-Joon Chang – Kicking Away the Ladder

This about Economy, tagged , , , , , was written by for , on October 19, 2009 .6 Comments

Chang, Ha-Joon – Kicking Away the Ladder: Development Strategy in Historical Perspective (2002) Category: economy; history; industrial policy; Rating: 5/5 Summary: Kicking Away the Ladder:How the Economic and Intellectual Histories of Capitalism Have Been Re-Written to Justify Neo-Liberal Capitalism (Ha-Joon Chang) Much has been said of the smug arrogance, cultural aloofness and end-of-history conceit characterizing the […]

A Long Wait at the Gate of Delusions

This about Futurism, tagged , , was written by for on August 3, 2008 .No Comments

Sometimes, it is much simpler to expound upon one’s views on a subject by replying to and arguing against an opposing view, rather than constructing one’s own thesis. Call it intellectual laziness, a clever short-cut or whatever you not, this is what I’m going to do with the Washington Post article A Long Wait at […]

Education as the Elixir of Growth

This about HBD, tagged , , , , , was written by for on March 10, 2008 .11 Comments

What are the reasons behind the wealth and poverty of nations? Since this question has exercised the minds of thinkers from Adam Smith to David Landes, Jared Diamond and Richard Lynn, I decided to take a look at it myself. I came to the conclusion that while geography, macroeconomic policies, resource windfalls and the microeconomic […]

Mailbag: Back from a Russian Century?

This about Futurism, tagged , , , was written by for on January 13, 2008 .No Comments

Four days and 50 reader views into our baby blog’s existence, we have been priveleged to receive a number of letters to our darussophileATyandexDOTru address. All of them deal with our Towards a New Russian Century? core article (which is, in addition, the most popular item on this blog by far – possibly because colleen […]

Towards a New Russian Century?

This about Futurism, tagged , , , , was written by for on January 11, 2008 .9 Comments

EDIT 11/27/08: Since writing this, I have come to realize that peak oil is real and will play a major role in any future scenario, and far sooner than the other three themes I highlight here. The twentieth century was, above all, a Russian century. Granted, Germany was the most important challenger Great Power in […]